Shadow Greyson
Shadow John Greyson is the second main love interest in the "Unusual Suspects" series. Shadow is a senior at the prestigious art school, Washington Arts Academy, and is majoring in music with a focus on guitar. He is Cat Polizzi's main love interest throughout the series and Cassidy Love's ex-boyfriend. Shadow is the mysterious rebel with a cynical attitude and rough past. But underneath the anger and angst is a heart of gold that just wants to be loved. Early Life Shadow was born and raised in a dangerous, underprivileged neighborhood in Staten Island. He was neglected by his mother, a rehab regular who was MIA, and abused by his father, a violent alcoholic. Shadow's love for music, namely the guitar, sparked when he was scavenging for food in an alley and found an old guitar lying around in a pile of trash. Since his parents were never around, Shadow had all the time in the world to practice guitar and play gigs at local dives. When he wasn't playing music, he was always speaking out and getting in trouble at his run-down public school. He would get in fist fights with other kids, steal beef jerky from gas stations, and challenge authority. In his preteen and teen years, Shadow would spend more time in courthouses than in school--and the rest of his time writing songs and playing guitar at major outdoor music festivals or obscure underground tours. Somehow, this grabs the attention of Washington Arts' music department--which was trying to find diversity from the snobby Classical and obnoxious Urban Music majors--and upon his freshman year of high school, he was accepted and enrolled on full scholarship at Washington Arts Academy. However, he didn't hesitate to cause trouble there too, and instantly became an "outcast among the outcasts". Physical Appearance Shadow's most defining feature is his piercing, icy blue eyes--which perfectly contradict his messy, jet-black hair. He is tall, built, and wears a lot of black leather jackets. He has an ever-present scowl on his face, but you can find his rare smile only when around Cat Polizzi. Plotlines In the first novel, The Unusual Suspects, ''resident bad boy Shadow Greyson "anticipates" his last miserable and lonely year at Washington Arts Academy, a school that had failed to make his life any happier. He dreads having to put up with his skeazy, egotistical roommate Demetri Bolshevik's taunting remarks and facing his ex-girlfriend Cassidy Love every day. But will his lab partner, the adorable new girl who's somehow different from all the rest, change everything for the better? In ''Don't Hate Me Because I'm Unusual, ''Shadow struggles to come to terms with his conflicted feelings over Cat after the Notte di Mistero fiasco--but will being forced to write a song with Cat for his Independent Project finally push him over the edge? In ''When In Rome, Do As The Unusuals Do, Shadow finally knows what it's like to be happy. His Muse is now his girlfriend and his awful roommate Demetri Bolshevik has been replaced by a much better (though weirder) guy. But will trouble in a Roman paradise and Cat's wild partying prove that bad things always happen when you're happy? In ''All's Unusual In Love and War, ''Shadow's perfectly imperfect relationship with Cat is threatened when war breaks out between the Suspects and the Sluts--and when the past drags him into the middle of the battlefield.